May 17, 2004 by A.S. Van Dorston

Rock’s Big Bounce
In the 10 years since Kurt Cobain died, a once thrilling genre has struggled. Now a new community of bands is emerging and finally making it safe to go back into the mosh pit.

…After a grim decade, the rock scene is once again producing musicâ€”lots of itâ€”that’s worth getting on a plane to hear.

What a complete load of crap. Just because radio was kidnapped by the corporate thugs ClearChannel and forcefed tripe doesn’t mean good music disappeared. The problem was with cable networks that turned their backs on music programming, corporate radio and the poor schmucks who chose depend on them for their music. There’s been a boom of good music since ’94, peaking in 2001 with 235 albums that I considered at least very good.

If there’s one knock against this new school of rock, it’s that no one seems willing to step up and become class president. “At some point, Bono looked at Elvis and said, ‘Yeah, that’s what I’m gonna do,’ ” says former Smashing Pumpkins frontman Billy Corgan. A fractured pop climate and a general cynicism about musical saviors, he argues, has made young bands even less likely to pursue grand visions than Pearl Jam and Nirvana were.

Smashing Pumpkins frontman Billy Corgan worries that today’s music industry is hostile toward individuality.

So which is it, Billy? I don’t really think Cobain intended to run for class president. And when he was elected by default, he offed himself. He’s more on point in the second quote. No one truly interesting or different will ever become huge while our culture is under house arrest via ClearChannel, the FCC, the RIAA. I’m sure Radiohead could have had the position had they chose to repeat themselves and become bland. Thankfully, they prefer to push themselves and evolve.

Flaming Lips are too whimsical, Wilco too introspective, QOTSA too raw, Bjork and PJ Harvey too eccentric for major crossover success. The era of superstars who make music worth listening to has been over for 15 years. Get over it. It’s not all about making more cash than P. Diddy. Indie labels and the bands are doing just fine. The idea that they don’t matter unless they sell bajillions of albums and headline arena tours is inane. If one of our favorite artists happens to reach Nirvana/U2/Coldplay level of popularity, fabulous. But it doesn’t mean the others don’t matter if they don’t.

For more information on the changes in FCC law that enables behemoths like ClearChannel to steamroll over any sort of unique community programming, heck out research done by the Future Of Music Coalition.

Posted in: Rants